I Dream of Genie
by Tukiko Miyuki
Summary: Lily Fairchild has known about her gifts since she was seven years old and since then has been keeping a secret from all but her parents. But keeping a gift like hers a secret isn't exactly easy. Finally, after what seems like a life time, two men offer Lily the chance to do something worthwhile with her extraordinary abilities. Charles/OC/Erik.


Prologue

"_We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ― _Plato

A young girl, only seven years old, sat on a window bay seat while reading a book her mother had given her earlier that day. Her light blonde hair shifted around her small shoulders when she glanced up from her book and looked through the window. Through the rain streaked surface, the girl saw her father jumping out of his car with a newspaper over his head, trying to keep himself dry. A giggle escaped her lips at the sight. She briefly wondered if her father knew that the newspaper was going to do very little to keep him dry from the heavy down pour.

"What are you gigglin' about, my little flower?" a woman asked as she came out of the kitchen.

The girl turned to her mother with an innocent smile. "I was only wonderin' if daddy knew that his newspaper wasn't gonna keep 'im dry from the rain."

At her daughter's statement, a laugh found its way passed the woman's throat and small tears pricked her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure your daddy knows very well. But that don't stop 'im from tryin' anyways."

"Stop me from tryin' what?" the girl's father asked as he entered the house dripping wet with a soggy newspaper in hand. He had only managed to catch the tail end of his wife's comment as he walked through the door.

"Seein' if the newspaper would protect ya from the rain," the woman smiled teasingly at her husband. This caused the man to give a smile of his own, though much more mischievous. Suddenly, the man ran up to his wife and wrapped his arms around her while spinning around.

"Tony! Let me go this instant! You're gettin' me all wet!" the woman shouted with a laugh.

Tony paused for a second. "Hmmm….No, I'd rather not," he answered, setting his wife down on her feet but not letting her go from his embrace.

From the window bay, the little girl smiled at her parents' affection for one another. Despite the fact that she was young, she knew that there were some parents out there that held less love for each other unlike hers. The girl once had a friend that told her one time how differently her parents acted towards one another compared to her own.

The young girl frowned at where her thoughts were drifting. If only she could have gotten her help sooner. A tear streaked down her check at the thought of her friend. The girl quickly whipped away the stray tear before either of her parents could notice.

Looking back down at the book, the girl studied the cover more closely than she first had when she received it. One the cover was a beautiful, white horse with a horn protruding from its forehead – a unicorn, her mother had told her. It was such a lovely creature; the little girl couldn't help but admire it. The girl only wished that such magnificent beings truly did exist. Oh, how she wanted to stroke its mane and even ride upon its back like her grandpa was teaching her how to do with one of his geldings.

Suddenly, a startled yelp from the two adults of the house drew the girl from her thoughts about the unicorn. When she looked to see what had scared her parents so badly, the girl could not help but gasp at the sight in her living room. There, just behind the couch, was an exact replica of the unicorn from the cover of the girl's book.

"What's goin' on?!" the girl's mother shouted as she and her husband stumbled away from the animal before them.

"I don't know, Gwen," Tony answered. His eyes trailed over to where his daughter was, only to see her sliding off the window bay and stepping slowly and cautiously towards the unicorn. "Lily! Stay away from it! It might hurt you!" The girl, Lily, flicked her eyes towards her father. Tony sucked in a breath of air at his little girl's eyes. They were no longer a simple light blue- almost grey - but instead a bright blue with mixtures of green that seemed to glow.

"I don't think it will, daddy. It's just like the unicorn on my book that I was thinkin' about!" Lily replied before turning her attention back to the animal that was focused solely on her. As she drew nearer, the unicorn nickered softly while slowly kneeling down on its front legs. At this, Lily was no longer hesitant about being close to the creature. Closing the gap between them, Lily gently placed her hand on the horse's nose. The two seemed to stare into each other's eyes, silently communicating. Though Lily did not ever actually hear the unicorn before her speak, she somehow knew what it wanted to say to her.

"Lily…Sweetie…" Gwen started to speak. The woman paused for a second, trying to figure out how to ask her daughter a rather important question. "Did…Did you have something to do with this?"

Lily did not answer at first. Her attention was still focused on the being before her. "Yes…I think so…" Lily finally responded as she withdrew her hand, allowing the unicorn to stand back up.

"Can you….Can you somehow send it back…to wherever?" her mother asked gently.

"I…I don't know, mommy," Lily hesitantly answered. Swallowing nervously, she looked at her parents, "I'll try my best." Lily switched her gaze back to the unicorn. It gave a bob of the head, as if trying to encourage her. Smiling slightly, Lily said, "Thank you. You can return now." With happy nicker, the unicorn disappeared in an array of little blue and green lights until there was nothing left.

Once the unicorn was gone, Lily's parents approached her. Tony knelt down in front of her and grasped her small shoulders while inspecting her eyes closely. They were still that bright blue and green but they no longer held the glow. "Lily…Sweetheart…Mommy and I want you to stay quiet about this. Alright?"

Lily frowned at what her father said. "But why? It's amazin'!"

Gwen knelt down beside Tony and gave her daughter a small, sad smile. "Yes, it is. But you have to understand somethin'….Sometimes… people get scared of things they don't understand."

Lily tilted her head to the side as she processed what her mother just said. "Why would people be scared?"

"That's hard to explain, honey. Personally…we don't know of anyone that has a…gift….like you do. If you showed others, they may react badly to it and they might hurt you," Gwen tried to further explain to her daughter.

Lily looked down at the ground. She had noticed her mother's hesitation about using the word gift. It made her wonder. "Are you scared of me now?"

At their daughter's question, both Gwen and Tony embraced her. "No. No we're not," Tony said with conviction. And he meant it.

* * *

Well, this is my first attempt at a X-Men fanfiction, so I hope it's not too disappointing. Please let me know how you feel about it. I would greatly appreciate it. Enjoy!


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